College Wrestling: PW grad Staudenmayer in elite company

CHAPEL HILL — If you happened to hear a loud sigh of relief emanating from the University of Maryland Saturday evening, it’s quite possible it came from John Michael Staudenmayer.

The Plymouth Whitemarsh High graduate and 2011 Pa. state champion was representing the University of North Carolina at 165 pounds at the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships, and needed at least a third-place finish to qualify for the NCAA Division One Championships.

And with a 6-0 verdict over North Carolina State’s Nijel Jones in the consolation finals, Staudenmayer (26-11) earned a berth in his initial try.

So come the weekend of March 21, he’ll be in Des Moines, IA, looking to secure All-American status.

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“It feels good, I’m relieved at this point because now I can just wrestle and not worry about getting there,” Staudenmayer said. “I’ve been thinking about this for most of the year. I’ve had some good weeks and bad weeks, some good tournaments and bad, but my goal had always been to make sure I got (to nationals) this year.”

As expected, the road was not easy.

At the ACCs, Staudenmayer opened competition with a major decision, but then dropped his semifinals match in overtime, 3-1, to the country’s No. 7 wrestler, Nicholas Sulzer of Virginia. Bouncing back through consolations, Staudenmayer majored Randy Roden of Duke, then blanked Jones to secure his spot at nationals.

While Staudenmayer is in his second season with the Tar Heels, he redshirted last season, competing in countless tournaments set up primarily for college redshirts. There was some question whether he would break into the starting lineup this year. But when teammate Corey Mock decided to redshirt (and eventually transfer to Tennessee-Chattanooga), the 165-pound spot in the lineup was his.

Right away, the PW graduate noticed a difference in high school wrestling and wrestling for a D-1 collegiate program.

“It’s tough,” Staudenmayer said. “It’s more than what I expected it to be. Everyone wants to get better in college, even the good wrestlers.

“You have to stay on pace, you can’t get complacent. You have to keep going harder and harder, even in practice. It’s like climbing a mountain, only the mountain is Mt. Everest, it just keeps going and going and going.

“Plus, you really have to train in those positions where you’re not as good.”

It gets no easier when you get on the mat, Staudenmayer said.

“The mindset is completely different in college,” he said. “Almost every match is like what you would see at (scholastic) states. Every second of every match, my body is constantly going. You have to wrestle for seven minutes, there’s no standing around for 30 seconds at a time.

“It’s really a grind.”

Staudenmayer also has had to deal with losing, something he rarely experienced in high school. In fact, the 11 losses he has suffered this season are the same number he experienced in his four-year scholastic career.

“When you lose, you have to bounce right back,” he said. “You have to work on (the negatives) and rebound very quickly because there’s another match coming up.”

With all of the rough patches along the way, Staudenmayer said he’s very happy where he is and how his athletic career is progressing.

“It’s a lot more work, but it’s also a lot more fun,” he said. “It’s always a chase, you’re chasing something unattainable, and it’s at your fingertips and it just keeps getting harder to grab.

“But everyone on the team is chasing the same thing, so there are a lot of good times.”

And outside of the pressure of competing at a high level, Staudenmayer said he and teammates like Evan and Robert Henderson (Kiski Prep) and Cody Klempay (Canon McMillan) have something to prove.

“We want to show that North Carolina is not a graveyard for Pennsylvania wrestlers,” he said.

Evan Henderson helped that along over the weekend by winning the ACC 141-pound title.

And even with the intensity of the ACC tournament to deal with over the weekend, Staudenmayer couldn’t help but check on the results of the PIAA Championships, where his younger brother Justin was finishing seventh and earning his first state medal.

“I was praying for him the whole time,” John said. “I’m always more nervous for him in his matches than I am for me in mine. I talked to him after every match. Even though he finished seventh, he’s done something a lot of guys haven’t done - place at states.”

And with Justin headed for Brown University and already at 160 pounds, it’s not out of the realm of possibility the two brothers could square off one day.

“I guess it’s possible, and I don’t know what I’d do,” John said. “I would hope it doesn’t come to that.”

For now, there’s the national tournament to think about.

“I’m hoping to place, get into the round to make All-American,” Staudenmayer said. “I’d like to set some sort of standard for myself, and then keep getting higher on the podium.

“I know that 165 is very deep this year, and there are going to be some huge tests.”

As for his social life, Staudenmayer is enjoying being a Yankee on Tobacco Road.

“Everything’s going well,” he said. “I have an apartment off-campus and I’m having a lot of fun.”

Although he admitted not all is perfect.

“The driving down here is the worst,” he laughed. “People can’t drive down here.”